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| Home Front: Politix |
| No Obamacare for Obama |
| 2010-03-26 |
| President Obama declared that the new health care law "is going to be affecting every American family." Except his own, of course. The new health care law exempts the president from having to participate in it. Leadership and committee staffers in the House and Senate who wrote the bill are exempted as well. A weasel-worded definition of "staff" includes only the members' personal staff in the new system; the committee staff that drafted the legislation opted themselves out. Because they were more familiar with the contents of the law than anyone in the country, it says a lot that they carved out their own special loophole. Anyway, the law is intended to affect "ordinary Americans," according to Vice President Joe Biden (who - being a heartbeat away from the presidency - also is not covered), not Washington insiders. Mr. Obama frequently tossed around the talking point that the new law gave people the same type of coverage as Congress enjoyed. In his March 20 health care pep talk to wavering Democrats on Capitol Hill, the president said one of the advantages of the health care legislation was that "people will have choice and competition just like members of Congress have choice and competition." At yesterday's signing ceremony, Mr. Obama said Americans will be "part of a big pool, just like federal employees are part of a big pool. They'll have the same choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves." But the American people will have a public pool; the executive branch and congressional staffers kept their country-club pool private. Last year, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, spearheaded efforts to have all Americans included in the plan, but he ran into heavy opposition from unions representing federal workers - the same unions that were pro-Obamacare stalwarts. In September, the Senate approved a scaled-down amendment that covered members of Congress and their staff. When this provision later emerged from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office, the leadership and committee staff loophole had appeared. A move in December by Mr. Grassley and Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, to close this loophole and to extend the law to senior members of the executive branch - including the president, vice president and Cabinet members - was blocked by Senate Democratic leaders. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #36 Says who, Pappy? Anyone who doesn't agree with you is a jerk? Jerk off. |
| Posted by: Gomez Threter7450 2010-03-26 23:08 |
| #35 This president who is on the Golf Course far more than any former President needs much better care than the grunts in the trenches in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps it might be clearer if "Office of the President" was used. Do not confuse that with the current office-holder. Then again, you can continue with the knee-jerk reactions. Emphasis on the 'jerk'. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-03-26 22:25 |
| #34 49Pan, that is the professionalism I expect from our military officers. I admire it in my retired-military husband and in our friends and colleagues still in uniform. May the day never come when that professionalism erodes for it is one of the bedrocks of the Republic. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-03-26 21:40 |
| #33 I cant agree more with you on your disgust for Zero. I did not vote for him and his name is not allowed to be spoken in my house. Like a bad infection on the ass of the US, this guy will leave office someday, America will heal, and I hope he rots in hell. But more importantly I hope the American voters learn something from him and pay better attention in the future. All my comments pertain to the office of the president, not the current slime in it. We must be very careful to insure the office is not detroyed by the disgust for the ass thats currently holding it. 49 Pan-AKA Mikhail Suslov |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-03-26 21:28 |
| #32 Yeah, right. This president who is on the Golf Course far more than any former President needs much better care than the grunts in the trenches in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thats right. This President that is responsible for insuring that twice as much "stimulus" money goes to the Democrat areas of the country than Republican areas needs the best possible health care so he can be 100% when he makes those calls. Thats right. The same President that needs to be the best medical care possible so he can be 100% when he insures that by law we pay to abort unborn children in hospitals all across this country. You really have to have the best doctors on the staff to make sure that you are 100% (even though you smoke) so you can refuse to show up until weeks later to visit the troops you are commander in chief of who were shot by Hasan. I can think of far better people in America who deserves the best medical care for doing far more for this country than Big Zero. |
| Posted by: wt 2010-03-26 21:14 |
| #31 No No, he's not king yet so he has to have what we peasants have, right Marie Antoinette Pelosi? |
| Posted by: Hhead 2010-03-26 20:53 |
| #30 As much as dislike Obama I have to agree with 49Pan. It doesn't matter who the President is, whether George Bush or Barak Obama he needs to be able to function at or very near 100%. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2010-03-26 20:23 |
| #29 As far as I'm concerned, the more time the bastard spends filling out forms for health care or anything else, the less time he has to wreck what's left of my country. He's not worth the spit used to shine shoes. |
| Posted by: Gomez Threter7450 2010-03-26 19:24 |
| #28 if 49 Pan is a Marxist then I'm Mikhail Suslov |
| Posted by: badanov 2010-03-26 17:50 |
| #27 Cute OS, I'll give ya that one! And yes, our president's health is more important than a GS12 tax collector, a VA doctor, and mine. We can get sick, call in sick, or be down for a weekend and the system will continue to function without us, and in my case probably better! Our president, by virtue of his office, can not. He can not be down sick, he has to be able to function at 100% for his tenure, our nation depends on it. As far as the staff and congress go, they should be forced into TRICARE or the GS employee equivilant. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-03-26 17:19 |
| #26 49pan, Dr Cox said it best: |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-26 16:48 |
| #25 Agreed OS, tonight I go to a fundraiser to start replacing congressmen in AZ. We either take control or be controlled. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-03-26 16:48 |
| #24 You seem to have lost sight he is supposed to be a PUBLIC SERVANT, not a MASTER. 49pan, let me get this straight - the president deserves the very best we can get him by virtue of his office? Better than is available for, say, a GS-12 IRS supervisor, or a VA Doctor? And better care for Congress than us average joes, after all their jobs are "more important" than ours since they affect so many people and the nation as a whole. Your reasoning supports that case. So then better care for Generals than privates would also be your standard? Seems to be that's justifiable under your thinking. I think now you can see that you are simply wrong. He deserves nothing more than the standard care we would give the equivalent PUBLIC SERVANT or military service member. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-26 16:47 |
| #23 CD-4 also has Weld county and the very conservative suburb areas around Lafayette and Louisville, as well as the eastern plains, and hyperconservitive Larimer county. And re-read the poll numbers. 66% opposed this bill. 42% "strongly oppose". Its been republican for a long time, until the state GOP didn't have the sense to replace Marilyn Musgrave with a viable candidate. Cory Gardner will win this (hit his website as linked and help him out). Same goes for Ryan Frazier running in the far more closely divided (i.e. gerrymandered) 7th CD. I personally know Ryan, young Navy vet, Intel enlisted guy, up by his own boostraps story. Having worked with him on some classified projects well before he got noticed, he is exactly the kind of person Rantburger's would want in DC. Please donate and help - even a $20 helps. He is going up against Ed "Perlosi" Perlmutter, who voted with Pelosi 97% of the time. If we can get Ryan the money, he can win the race. We need to get his face and message out across a very spread out district, and its going to take money to do that. Please help. Full Disclosure: Im a member of Vets for Frazier, as well as one of the first contributors to his campaign. Time to step up people. Even just $20 to each of these guys now will make a difference. On the whole, we have just yapped in the past - and see where it got us? Time to walk the talk. Pony up now -- or pay later for your failure to sacrifice when its still relatively easy and cheap. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-26 16:41 |
| #22 A Marxist product of our public education system??? WT, you are either new to the burg or have fallen off your meds. The next time you want to call someone a Marxist you might want to pull your head as far out of your ass as possible before making that kind of a comment. You might find that just because I do believe our President is the single most powerful man, maybe second to the pope, on earth and he should have nothing but the very best does not make me a God Damned liberal or a fucking Marxist. It makes me a man with an opinion, one I guess you don't agree with. And Yes, you did call one thing right, I am a victim of the public education system, grade school, high school, state college, and US military. I apologize to no one for not having the money to attend some ivy league college. You on the other hand, should have learned in what ever school you attended that baseless name calling does nothing for the discussion and is an indicator to the rest of us of a limited intellectual capacity by the name caller. You assumed wrong that I am a supporter of this bill that going to destroy our economy and health care system. What I said was I support the president, all of them, that they get the very finest health care we can give them, they deserve it in my opinion. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-03-26 16:38 |
| #21 Ductus Exemplo - "leadership by example" the motto of USMC OCS....meaning - in the field your troops eat first, the officers eat last, you share their hardships, you do w/less, etc. Understandably rank will have certain priveledges, healthcare ought not to be one. The gallows humor we used to say for non-hackers was "duck the example". Obama would fit perfectly in the latter. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2010-03-26 15:00 |
| #20 "Good enough for the proles" |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-03-26 14:03 |
| #19 The same way they opted themselves out of Social Security. They know it's a croc of crap and that's why they don't include themselves in it. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-03-26 13:25 |
| #18 I don't care where he goes for medical treatment as long as they permit him to continue smoking. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-26 12:53 |
| #17 Obama has said that he will be insured under the exchange come 2014 same as everyone else. He should probably start working now to get on the good side of the death panel. |
| Posted by: Gomez Threter7450 2010-03-26 12:22 |
| #16 bman: Yes, Markey represents Colorado CD4 centered in Fort Collins. The district leans right. That's why they let her vote 'no' the first time around. Now she's toast, unless the R's implode, of course. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2010-03-26 12:17 |
| #15 We need to require that our congresscritters, the Washington bureaucracy, and yes the president all live by the rules which they make for everyone else. Otherwise what they do is merely an abstraction and what they do to us defines tyrrany. I am beginning to think the only thing worse than taxation without representation is taxation with representation. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-03-26 12:07 |
| #14 I pretty much agree Pan - problem is that Congress has extended that to themselves and their favorites (Unions). Congresscritters do not need this special provision - they are not 'national leaders'. Just as Queen Nancy has no right to 'Represent the United States' (in spite of what she thinks herself) - she was only elected by a small portion of U.S. And congress have also extended that to the Unions. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-03-26 11:47 |
| #13 We did not elect a "world leader". You are clearly a product of todays liberal public education system. Until now, the US had the best medical system in the world. All Americans had access to any doctor they chose to access. You have been duped into saying that the "ruling class", which is now being established should have access to those doctors and that others should take the lessor qualified doctors that the new Socialist Healthcare care system will ALLOW them. You, Pan, are a Marxist. |
| Posted by: wt 2010-03-26 11:45 |
| #12 Oh, geat so the muzzies can get out of it as well. My last note on presidential health care. We have to take care of our leaders better than any other nation. They deserve to have doctors on staff and direct access to the top hospitals. They are the leaders of the free world. Having to go wait in line and spend time filling out forms is a waste of their time, and their time is our time. We elect a president to run the country, not fill out health car forms. And as far as getting special treatment after, I am still for it. We still need to take care of them. Are they special and do they deserve to be treated that way, yes. Its not that we are any lesser class or being ruled by a king, we did however elect a world leader and we should take care of him in that manner for his efforts. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-03-26 11:26 |
| #11 Doesn't Markey represent Fort Collins, an area dependent on liberal CSU? I know she came up to Estes Park last summer and was welcomed by 100 or so tea party members, but the majority of EPC's citizens are ultra liberal. I think she wins again. |
| Posted by: bman 2010-03-26 11:25 |
| #10 Bammo is exempt twice. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2010-03-26 11:10 |
| #9 Betsey Markey flipped form No to Yes. She is gone come November. Politically speaking, she's dead man walking right now. She did not enjoy the pink slips we handed to her staff, nor the tar and feathers (5 gal bucket) left at her office. 66% of her district opposed this bill. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-26 10:23 |
| #8 Subject: Obamacare If the 4 representatives from Georgia who voted yes to health care would have voted no....the bill would have been killed. Instead of a 219 to 212 vote, the vote would have been 215 to 216. (yes voters from GA were Sanford Bishop(2), Henry Johnson(4), John Lewis(5), and David Scott(13)). Besides being dems, anyone wish to hazard a guess as to what these fellows all have in common with Barry? Remember the power of a few votes and make sure you vote in November. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-26 10:19 |
| #7 The representatives and individuals that the American People send to the office are to insure that the people's liberties are protected. That individual is not to secure the best for "him/her" and demand everyone else to settle for less. If it isn't good enough for him, it is clearly not good enough for any one else. In America the people used to put individuals in office that lead by example. Individuals that would not ask others to do or accept what they would not do or accept for themselves. Those days have vanished. We now have the worst of the worst in office. And it is going to be harder than you think to get these selfish personalities out of there. |
| Posted by: wt 2010-03-26 10:09 |
| #6 AMEN, to OldSpook. And Procopius is priceless as usual. Nothing to add, on my part. Excellent observations on theirs. "There comes a time in every man's life when he really reaaly looks at what is on the end of his fork." |
| Posted by: BlackBart 2010-03-26 09:21 |
| #5 ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS. Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer— except, of course, for the pigs and the dogs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which. - Animal Farm, George Orwell. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-03-26 09:06 |
| #4 I agree with Old Spook. In my opinion the biggest single problem with our political system is that we have created a political 'class' which is no longer a part of the 'people'. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-03-26 08:44 |
| #3 Than go look at every failed empire in history, and you shall find him PAN. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-03-26 02:27 |
| #2 49 Pan, no. Other than whats required for the office (e.g. security) he should be treated no better than any GS equivalent, or General Officer (As CINC). He's not a prince or a king, and should be treated no better. Same goes for his family. Especially after he leaves office. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-26 01:40 |
| #1 As much as I cant stand that son of a bitch, he is our president. His health care must be better than the rest. Thats how we are supposed to treat our presidents, like him or not. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2010-03-26 00:38 |